Televisual articles from May 2005

Televisual archives from May 2005

Would-be superindies pursue opposing buy-up routes.(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... A schism is opening up between the acquisition plans of would-be UK superindies, as two prepare to float with very divergent buy-up strategies. RDF Media and Motive TV (former Chrysalis ceo Mick Pilsworth's start- up) are both due to go to...

Elstein picks up Hallmark but balks at ITV.(Former Five, David Elstein, The Hallmark Channel )(acquisition deal)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Former Five chief executive David Elstein has finalised a deal to buy The Hallmark Channel and denied he is behind a bid to buy ITV. Elstein, together with backers Providence Equity Partners and venture capital outfit 3i, cleared the...

Onedotzero festival programme.(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Moving image festival Onedotzero has announced its full festival programme to run at the ICA at the end of this month. Highlights include a look at the creative processes of MTV, Nexus and Unit 9; retrospectives of Mike Mills' shorts and music...

New graphics team at DVA.(Matthew Baxter appointed)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Broadcast designer Matthew Baxter is to lead a new graphics team at Hampshire-based post house DVA. Baxter was md of Baxter Hobbins Sides and then creative director for Sky News where he headed the creative team for the launch of Sky News...

Kemistry wins Award.(Queen's Award)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... TV design outfit Kemistry has won a Queen's Award for Enterprise in the International Trade category. Kemistry won the award for exporting British television design to international broadcasters. In the last three years, over 90% of the...

BBC hires comedy commissioner.(Katie Taylor, British Broadcasting Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... The BBC finally begun stocking its newly-restructured comedy commissioning team with the hiring of Katie Taylor as executive editor of comedy entertainment. A new head of comedy commissioning post is proving harder to fill, with Mark...

C4 gets E4 a slot on Freeview.(Channel Four Television Company Ltd., DTV Services Ltd., contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Channel 4 is to launch E4 on the Freeview platform to tie in with start of Big Brother 6 at the end of this month. As part of the deal (rumoured to be worth #5m) with Crown Castle, C4 has three slots and will also launch time-shift channel...

People on the move.(Dean Palmer, Jonathan Young, Chris Mortimer)(appointments and promotions)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... People on the move this month include a new head of features and docs at September Films, with Dean Palmer joining from Caledonia TV. Jonathan Young is promoted to head of drama at Talkback Thames. Chris Mortimer is to be head of vfx at Blue,...

Zenith blasts off to Mars for new children's drama.(Zenith Entertainment, Fox World Australia, partnership )(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Zenith Entertainment has joined forces with Fox World Australia on a co- production of a new live-action kids drama series set on Mars. The 26x30-minute (or 13x60-minute) Defenders of Mars tells the story of a group of children who have...

Comedy Unit to make spoof music doc for Channel 4.(Channel Four Television Company Ltd.)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Glasgow-based entertainment independent The Comedy Unit has landed a commission for a new comedy six-parter for Channel 4. Soundproof is a spoof music documentary series ordered by commissioning editor, music, youth and T4, Neil McCallum,...

Mosaic Films deal.(British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC. Sky Travel, ITV PLC)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Mosaic Films has picked up a co-pro deal with Sky Travel and ITV London for a third series of Underground docu-soap The Tube. The 6x30-minute series revisits subjects from the first two series and introduces new faces. Directors are Tom...

Kalms Sleep ad.(Bermuda Shorts, contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Bermuda Shorts' Darren Groucutt has directed the first ad for sedative Kalms Sleep. Ordered through agency Bray Leino, the ad shows the difference between two women's sleep patterns, one of whom has taken Kalms. The ad was rotoscoped using...

Launch commercial for Prada fragrance.(Jordan Scott, Miuccia Prada, contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Fashion designer Miuccia Prada hired father and son directors Ridley and Jordan Scott to put together the launch commercial for the new Prada fragrance. The ad was inspired by a first-century gnostic poem found by Jordan Scott called Thunder...

Imago gets two healthy orders.(Discovery Health Channel, contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Discovery Health has ordered two new shows from Norwich independent Imago. Mum + One (working title) follows the lives of women known as "doulas," who use their own experiences to support expectant parents through pregnancy and...

Idents for Wowow.(Wowow Programming Inc., Framestore CFC, contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Framestore CFC has produced a set of 64 five-second idents for Japanese satellite channel Wowow Television. The idents cover eight genres and each genre is represented through eight seasons, with a strong organic theme throughout each....

Diverse to mark tsunami date.(Tsunami: Wave of Destruction)(television documentary)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... BBC1 has commissioned a tsunami documentary-special from Musicality producer Diverse to air during the one-year anniversary of the recent disaster. The 90-minute Tsunami: Wave of Destruction covers the seven hours after the initial...

Godman learns to listen for Bang and Olufsen spot.(Godman's Shammasian Brothers, contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Godman's Shammasian Brothers' new spot for Bang and Olufsen has a blind man pouring a glass of water using only the power of his hearing to illustrate the tagline of the campaign, "learn to listen." The directors decided to use Arri's...

Idlewild promo.(Factory Films, Idle Wild Foods Inc., contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Idlewild's new promo I Understand It was directed by Factory Films' Jamie Thraves. VTR completed post which involved gradually revealing the band members throughout the promo. The video was "shot using motion- control and then matted out so...

Channel 4.(Caroline Leddy, Andrew Newman, Channel Four Television Company Ltd.)(contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Channel 4 head of comedy, Caroline Leddy and head of entertainment Andrew Newman have greenlit Objective's Balls of Steel, which challenges comedians to show their nerve, and its magic show Dirty Tricks; Zeppotron's The Zeppotron Sketch Show...

Shed Productions plans reality series.(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Shed Productions is planning a Truman Show-style reality series which will see it filming 10 families for a year in a purpose-built community in the East End. A broadcaster is still being sought for the project, but Shed is already...

Stonehenge special.(Alex Sutherland, Darlow Smithson, contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Five's controller of history Alex Sutherland has commissioned Darlow Smithson to rebuild Stonehenge for a live special to be broadcast during the summer solstice. Shooting starts in May for the June transmission. Further shows will look at...

Primetime commission.(Landmark Films Inc., contract)
May 11, 2005... Big Red Bus (wt) is Landmark Films' first primetime commission for BBC1. The 8x30-minute series is an observational doc following London's bus drivers and trainees. The producer is Jennifer Beamish and executive producer is Nick O'Dwyer. It...

Two Four series.(Two Four Productions planning to make a crime serial)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Two Four Productions is to make a series of six films profiling the world's most notorious serial killers, from Fred West to Jeffrey Dahmer. The 6x60-minute Born to Kill is distributed by Extreme Entertainment, which deficit financed the...

Multi-million pound drama.(Power, partnership)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Power and the BBC are to co-produce a multi-million pound drama about Elizabeth I written by Paula Milne. Anne Marie Duff (Shameless, Enigma) is to take the lead. The four-hour drama will go out in January 2006 on the BBC; Power holds all...

First broadcast job.(the design of Spov magazine is completed)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Newly-formed design outfit Spov has finished its first broadcast job: titles for Cineflix's upcoming Five series Greatest Ever. Spov md Allen Leitch used Final Cut Pro, After Effects and Cinema 4D on the titles that had cg graphic elements...

Velux spots.(Daryl Goodrich, Velux Windows, contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... New Moon director Daryl Goodrich's spots for Velux Windows involved constructing 21 sets at Riga Motion Picture Studio in Latvia to show the transformation of a room with Velux products. It was ordered through Union. Creative director was...

Hit suitors down to two.(acquisition of HIT Entertainment PLC)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... One of the three remaining bidders for Bob the Builder owner Hit Entertainment has dropped out of the race. US-based Classic Media, best known for Lassie and Caspar the Ghost, pulled out of the bidding process. This leaves Apax Partners...

BBC loses top talent to independents.(Peter Salmon resigned from British Broadcasting Corp.)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... The BBC's director of sport Peter Salmon is the latest executive to leave the corporation for the indie sector. Salmon becomes chief executive of The Television Corporation on 1 July, replacing Jeff Foulser who moves over to run Sunset +...

Ford-Kandola swap-over.(Jay Kandola, Jeff Ford, C4 Network Inc., Five)(appointments)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... C4's deputy director of acquisitions Jay Kandola is to move into Jeff Ford's old job at Five. Ford is to leave Five to become C4's director of acquisitions after the retirement of June Dromgoole, and would have been Kandola's boss. ...

BBC's extra #61m.(British Broadcasting Corp., investment)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... The BBC has pledged to spend an extra #61m this year on programme- making across TV, radio and interactive with #21m earmarked for TV. The BBC's statements of programme policy say it will cut peaktime repeats and prioritise drama and...

Sky and Tiger team on new unit.(British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC. Sky One, Tiger Aspect Productions)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Tiger Aspect is teaming with Sky1 in a joint-venture, The Wildlife Unit headed by Tiger's Clive Tulloh, which already has 15 months of funding. Programme rights will be shared, but distribution details are yet to be revealed. In production...

Once upon a time in the south-east.(television broadcasting industry foreign operation)
May 11, 2005... Martin Jackson, man of Kent and former TV scribbler, appeals to Ofcom and the BBC: there are more regions than Manchester, Bristol and Cardiff - think Kent This is the story of media folk who reversed the Dick Whittington fable. Instead...

Avalon-C4i format deal.(Channel Four Television Company Ltd., Avalon Group Ltd., partnership)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Avalon and Channel 4 International have jointly launched Tinderbox Television, focusing on the creation of original formats. Joint-financed by the two companies, Tinderbox plans to use its existing relationships with writers in the UK to...

Fremantle dives into Atlantic.(Atlantic Productions, Fremantle International Distribution, contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Fremantle International Distribution (FID) has brokered a first-look deal on new history and science programmes from factual independent Atlantic Productions. The Atlantic agreement also brings several recent historical docs into the...

Target Fifi sales.(Chapman Entertainment, Target Entertainment, contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Target Entertainment has sold Chapman Entertainment's pre-schooler Fifi and the Flowertots to nine broadcasters: Australia's ABC, France 5, Mnet-K-TV and Go in South Africa, SVT Sweden, NRK Norway, YLE Finland, IBC Iceland, RTV Slovenia and...

RDF down under.(Nine Network, contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... RDF Rights has sold four new titles to Australia's Nine Network. Unique's 6x30-minute docu-dramas Survivors and Plastic Surgery Ruined My Wife; Supersize She from Special Edition Films; and RDF Media's 10x45-minute adventure series Swimming...

FBC sells Elton.(FBC Media, David Paradine Productions, contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... FBC Media has acquired international rights, excluding the USA, to new interview-based Elton John documentary Inside Elton's World from David Paradine Productions. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

Factual, drama, reality: All3 please.(Louise Pedersen on hot seat)(All3media International)(Interview)
May 11, 2005... Louise Pedersen, All3media International md, is on the look-out for event-factual shows and long-running drama series What kind of money can you put into a production? We don't have a cap on money for investment in programmes, so it...

BROADCAST: TV's summer of discontent?(pay strikes)
May 11, 2005... In March, Televisual's annual pay survey showed average wages for TV workers slightly down, at just under #40k. But this masked a far bigger drop among broadcast staff against a rise among independents. In April came pay strikes at six...

MONTH IN REVIEW.(TV turn off Campaign)
May 11, 2005... Good timing for UK guerillas in the global TV-Turnoff Week campaign that the week co-incided with the last knockings of Britain's lack- lustre election campaign. Activists are encouraged to use a rather neat gizmo (TV-B-Gone, now available at...

Letter: Luck-of-the-draw for Bulldog voter.(Letter to the Editor)
May 11, 2005... I received the MP3 player today that I won in your recent competition (the Bulldog Awards, Televisual April). Richard Lamb, 10th Planet, London W1 Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

Letter: Why training doesn't pay.(Letter to the Editor)
May 11, 2005... The findings in your pay survey (Televisual April issue) that show that training has a negative effect on earnings for TV workers do seem to go against logic. But I don't think you have quite put your finger on the reason. You say that...

Letter: Hitchhiking on its history.(Letter to the Editor)
May 11, 2005... I was interested in how The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was made into a movie (Televisual April). But, though I enjoyed the film, I'm not sure anyone who hasn't seen (or heard) earlier versions will understand the fuss about it. As...

Get credit wherever credit's due.(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... You'd never find me standing glued to the credits at the end of a film, though many of my acquaintances do, despite urgent tugging towards the pub. I used to think them pretentious: 20-somethings making like star directors picking their next...

INTERVIEW - DAVID FRANK: RDF goes to market.(RDF Productions)(Interview)
May 11, 2005... As Faking It and Wife Swap producer RDF prepares to follow Shed with a stockmarket listing of its own, Jon Creamer asks chief exec David Frank about his plans for the future of the company Although RDF chief executive David Frank is...

EXTRA TERRESTRIAL: Alien nations.(Nick Stringer`s struggle for animated movie)
May 11, 2005... Big Wave's latest is a cg-heavy factual event about evolution on imagined alien planets. Jon Creamer looks to the stars Television has always had plenty to say on the subject of alien life, dreaming up far-flung worlds and strange...

FILM DISTRIBUTION: Cash on delivery.
May 11, 2005... Enough UK films may be being made with the help of lottery cash, but are enough being seen? Ann-Marie Corvin looks at Film Council plans to help niche movies find their niche audiences When an internationally-acclaimed director makes the...

TAPELESS FORMATS: Time to cut the tape?
May 11, 2005... Cassettes gave way to CDs, VHS has been driven into oblivion by DVD, but tape remains the medium of choice for cameramen... for how long? Simon Meek asks what tapeless acquisition can do for you Moving to a tapeless production environment...

IN PRODUCTION - E=MC2: Einstein & co.(new technology in television drama)
May 11, 2005... Darlow Smithson's new science drama used HD to cut costs and put money where it matters: in front of camera, reports Kate Large A cast of physicists leading lives that would make Byron blush might seem an unlikely basis for a drama, but...

OUTSIDE BROADCAST: Travellers' tales.
May 11, 2005... The frenetic calendar of summertime events that's etched in the diary of every OB manager is still not enough to keep all the trucks in the market rolling. Add the prospect of the BBC fleet joining the independents, and they're driven to...

BBC Post set to axe 3D division.(BBC Post Production, three dimensional)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... BBC Post Production is to close its award-winning 3D animation, compositing and modelling department after an audit deemed the business to be unviable. The closure will result in 10 redundancies within the department, which won a gold...

24-7 Drama sets up with VFG staff.(Visual Impact Group)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Staff from the now-defunct VFG Hire are to head up a new rental company financed by Visual Impact Group. The new company, 24-7 Drama, will specialise in the hire of HD and SD broadcast equipment for drama and documentary makers. #1m is to...

Metro to take on titling.(Metro Broadcast)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Metro Broadcast is re-positioning its DVD-design department to take on broadcast titling work. It has just completed its first job: a 15- second sequence for Essential Television's Tribal Odyssey for which it completed all online post. The...

Ascent's north-eastern frontier.(Ascent Media UK)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Ascent Media plans to expand its post-production business into the north-east of England and hopes to have a satellite operation open by this time next year. The facilities group is talking to Newcastle's Learning and Skills Development...

Early adopter is set to drop Sony editing kit.(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Europe's first facility to get Sony's Xpri editing platform is ditching the system and asking for its money back. London HD boutique Mac Million took delivery of an Xpri in 2001. But now its md Mads Jorgenson says he's "given up" on the...

Metropolis post arm.(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Metropolis Post and sound/DVD house Metropolis Group have locked horns over the Group's new post arm. Fronted by ex-Screen Ventures' Nigel Glynn Davies and now also branded Metropolis Post, it adds an Icon mixer to the Avid offline systems...

Colour Film Services to vacate Soho premises.(appointment)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Colour Film Services is looking to vacate its Soho premises after five years. CFS's sales and marketing manager John Ward confirmed that the company is looking to leave Soho but declined to comment further. It's understood that M2TV and its...

X-rayed negs get full clean-up.
May 11, 2005... Soho facility ArenaP3 managed to restore footage for Vixon FIlms' Sisters in Law documentary after negatives went through an X-ray machine at Cameroon airport. Two-and-a-half minutes of film was unusable after airport security insisted bags...

Komedia opens TV studio facilities.(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Brighton edit-house We Should Be has merged with neighbouring live- venue operator Komedia to offer a new studio to the TV market. The 170-seat theatre and two adjoining cabaret halls are being offered as a radio and TV-studio facility,...

Soho Investigation.
May 11, 2005... Televisual invites producers and production managers to learn about HDV, HDCam and XDCam at a free hands-on event this month. The Soho Investigation will be at Molinare on 26-27 May. Avid's Adrenaline HD and DS Nitris will be on site to show...

BBC Bristol's HD plan.(high definition, BBC Post Production)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... BBC Post Production is investing over #500k on HD kit and a tapeless infrastructure for its Bristol facilities. The upgrade is part of BBC Post's migration to HD. A Smoke editing/compositing system and Lustre grading suite follow this...

Soho invests in Filmlight for DI.(digital intermediate, contract)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Three major London facilities have invested in Filmlight kit as part of a drive into the digital intermediate market. Molinare has bought a Northlight film scanner and Blackboard control surface for its Baselight colour grading system;...

BSkyB gears up for HD.(high definition, British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... BSkyB has reached supplier contracts for technologies to underpin its HDTV services ready for a 2006 launch. Sony will construct and equip an HD studio at its Isleworth HQ; Tandberg is to install its Mpeg4 video encoding/distribution...

SCCI uplink buy.(Swiss Corvette Club International, Links 'n' Things)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... SNG uplink provider Links 'n' Things has been bought by satellite communications outfit SCCI. It keeps its name and founder Mike Miller stays on until the deal is complete. Copyright: Centaur Communications Ltd. and licensors

Autodesk snaps up Colorfront.(acquisition agreement)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Autodesk is to buy Budapest's colour-correction technology developer Colorfront for #7.8m. Colorfront worked with Autodesk co-developing the Discreet Lustre grading system. The deal is expected to close by the end of the month. ...

Beware Ofcom's spectrum sell-off.(Office of Communications plans)
May 11, 2005... The digital switch-off will cause countless problems for the TV production industry, says John Turnock, chairman of newly-formed trade body, Beirg As the switchover to full-scale digital TV and radio broadcasting approaches, planning the...

I KNOW WHERE I'M GOING!: Back to the future.
May 11, 2005... To mark the centenary of Michael Powell's birth, the BFI and Granada International Media have teamed up and employed Ascent Media to restore one of the director's classic flicks in HD The esteemed film-makers Michael Powell and Emeric...

IN MY VIEW: Savage critique.(Dominic Savage on hot seat)(Interview)
May 11, 2005... An ideal night's viewing for Brave Films' Dominic Savage might be a Kubrick masterpiece on DVD or an episode of Company's Shameless. But, please, no more shows about bratty kids How much TV do you watch? About 10 hours a week, maybe...

Baby drama proves a windfall for Channel 4.(television program ratings)(Brief Article)
May 11, 2005... Windfall Films' Channel 4 drama Born with Two Mothers on 21 April grabbed headlines, critical acclaim and a peak audience of 2.6m(12.7%) at 20.00, averaging 2.3m (10.9%) over 90 minutes. Granada's Celebrity Wrestling for ITV1 on 23 April...